Virgil’s Thomson’s scores for the two American documentary films, The Plow that Broke the Plains (evoking the American ‘Dust Bowl’) and The River (making a spectacular case for flood control), are among the most deservedly famous in film history, and this is the first time they have been recorded in their entirely. Each is constructed in a series of musical vignettes, quoting cowboy songs, popular and patriotic melodies, nursery tunes, folk music and even jazz; but composed music also intervenes to create atmosphere and accompanies the final scenes and are presented here in sequence, rather than seamlessly, very well played and recorded. Excellent notes too.

Naxos’s DVD division has already released the performances on this disc of Virgil Thomson’s scores for The Plow that Broke the Plains and The River, as soundtracks for a re-release of the original films. That DVD (Naxos 2.110521) contained, as bonus tracks, the original musical performances. The additional investment for the DVD seems minor, considering the historical value of the films themselves and the other additional material (interviews with film participants and some comments from Thomson himself).

However, for the extremely budget-minded or those only interested in the audio experience, these performances by the Post-Classical Ensemble, led by Angel Gil-Ordóñez, merit a strong recommendation.